Saturday 22 December 2007
Friday 21 December 2007
Tuesday 20 November 2007
World COPD Day - Herne Bay Junior School
On 14th November (World COPD day), BE members Jean and Rosemary who both have COPD - and Iveta Richterova from the respiratory team at the Whit and Tank – held creative educational sessions making giant “lungs” with the Year 5s at Herne Bay Junior School. Sadly Mollie, who had planned the session with us, was ill and unable to be there.
Rosemary and Jean had practised building lungs beforehand to see if the idea was viable - how Blue Peter is this?
Working with 120 children in two groups of 60, we used the British Lung Foundation’s red balloons as a way of thinking about lung health. Each child was asked to blow up a balloon with one large breath, then we compared the various sizes of our balloons. Jean's and Rosemary’s were pretty puny (especially Jean's!) while Year 5 head, David Vellani's balloon was almost fully inflated. (Oh the joy of healthy lungs!) The children asked lots of questions about pollution and how many breaths we breathe in a day (22,736).
With so many children we struggled to finish on time, but finally suspended two pairs of four foot high symbolic communal lungs over the minstrels’ gallery in the school hall, emphasising that they contained the precious individual breath of each child who had taken part. After we left, the children went on to make posters on the themes of the session.
This was a big learning curve. It was hard to work with so many children, and sadly Jean was only able to take one photo as we were on the go the whole afternoon.
Mollie was sorely missed, especially during the discussion. We wish you better, Mollie, and look forward to de-briefing with you later on. We have had quite a bit of coverage in the Herne Bay Times, Whitstable Gazette and hopefully in the forthcoming NHS Health News, which has hopefully raised our profile in the area.
Rosemary and Jean had practised building lungs beforehand to see if the idea was viable - how Blue Peter is this?
Working with 120 children in two groups of 60, we used the British Lung Foundation’s red balloons as a way of thinking about lung health. Each child was asked to blow up a balloon with one large breath, then we compared the various sizes of our balloons. Jean's and Rosemary’s were pretty puny (especially Jean's!) while Year 5 head, David Vellani's balloon was almost fully inflated. (Oh the joy of healthy lungs!) The children asked lots of questions about pollution and how many breaths we breathe in a day (22,736).
With so many children we struggled to finish on time, but finally suspended two pairs of four foot high symbolic communal lungs over the minstrels’ gallery in the school hall, emphasising that they contained the precious individual breath of each child who had taken part. After we left, the children went on to make posters on the themes of the session.
This was a big learning curve. It was hard to work with so many children, and sadly Jean was only able to take one photo as we were on the go the whole afternoon.Mollie was sorely missed, especially during the discussion. We wish you better, Mollie, and look forward to de-briefing with you later on. We have had quite a bit of coverage in the Herne Bay Times, Whitstable Gazette and hopefully in the forthcoming NHS Health News, which has hopefully raised our profile in the area.
Sunday 9 September 2007
Sponsored Walk 1
On September 9th 2007 the Breathe Easy Canterbury and District held their annual sponsored walk. It was a very colourful affair this year. At the start local band KD Jazz entertained us before leading us off along the first stretch of the walk. Barbara Sturgeon, Kent Ambassador and award winning broadcaster officially started the walk and walked with us.
We walked from Herne Bay Hampton Pier (or in some cases rode on bicycles and in wheelchairs), the 2 miles or so to The Marine Hotel at Tankerton slopes where we stopped for lunch and more entertainment. The KD Jazz Band played for us again, then once the sandwiches had been consumed Barbara gave us a speech and invited a couple of our members to be interviewed.
We walked from Herne Bay Hampton Pier (or in some cases rode on bicycles and in wheelchairs), the 2 miles or so to The Marine Hotel at Tankerton slopes where we stopped for lunch and more entertainment. The KD Jazz Band played for us again, then once the sandwiches had been consumed Barbara gave us a speech and invited a couple of our members to be interviewed.
More Sponsored Walk Photos
We couldn't have asked for a better day.
The KD Jazz Band started us off in style.
The Marine Hotel in Whitstable kindly provided us with the room for this event.
Sponsored Walk 2
We had some more music provided by Chris Baxter who played the harmonica and his friend Alan who accompanied him on the guitar.
Following that Linnea gave us a demonstration of another form of exercise, belly dancing. The glorious weather and a carnival atmosphere ensured a very happy day.
After the entertainment those who were able walked the two miles back to Hampton Pier. So far the walk has brought in over £1000 and there are a few more sponsorship forms to be returned yet!
Following that Linnea gave us a demonstration of another form of exercise, belly dancing. The glorious weather and a carnival atmosphere ensured a very happy day.
After the entertainment those who were able walked the two miles back to Hampton Pier. So far the walk has brought in over £1000 and there are a few more sponsorship forms to be returned yet!
Wednesday 11 July 2007
Strawberry Tea - July 2007
Our July meeting was held in Carol's garden where we enjoyed a Strawberry Tea with wonderful scones, fresh strawberries, jam and lashings of fresh cream. Due to the inclement weather this summer the group invested in a big party marquee and with lots of balloons, bright red tablecloths and music from the 'olden days' it was very festive.
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